IRU and Transport Ministers join forces

Warsaw – The 4th IRU Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference and joint Ministerial meeting concluded that road transport can drive peace and prosperity along the Silk Road, provided that political priority is given to removing the many procedural barriers to trade and road transport along its route.

The Warsaw Euro-Asian conference declaration, adopted today by all participants, highlighted “the imperative need to abolish misguided punitive political policies against road transport, to implement multilateral facilitation instruments to streamline border crossing administrative procedures and requirements, and to issue multi-entry annual visas for professional truck drivers”.

IRU Secretary General, Martin Marmy, said, “This Conference clearly demonstrates the huge potential of the human and natural resources of the Euro-Asian landmass, where two thirds of the world’s population not only live but above all work, produce, trade and transport... With the reopening of the Silk Road to modern road transport, it is possible, without spending one cent on infrastructure, to put an end to the current desertification of trade in too many countries, resulting from the concentration of the bulk of world trade in only a few major ports.”

The declaration signed by the 26 ministers who attended the joint ministerial meeting, underlined their decision to enhance “accession to, development and implementation of the un conventions on international road transport; adoption of the WTO rules in respect of the freedom of transit, simplification of documents, rationalisation of charges and taxes; and construction of missing road connections along the silk road, including bypasses in urban areas.”

Both declarations ended with an invitation to all parties involved to initiate and/or pursue an effective and continuous dialogue in the form of a genuine public-private partnership to meet the challenges of driving progress along the Silk Road.